The rules

There are many things to be thankful for. Missing yesterday’s comment section on this pathetic blog, if you were so lucky, is one of them. Unlike the thousands of other people who read those words, I had to wade through all the trash that didn’t make it public. It’s amazing the vitriol that humans can spew when confronted with opinions they wish not to hear.

The issue du jour was the BC government’s ridiculous plan to make housing cheaper by taxing it more. Designing laws to trash a market that 70% of people are invested in shows where the NDP believes its support lies. The other 30% came here to rip me a new one for pointing this out.

But we’re not going back to that topic. Not yet.

Instead today’s post is just a reminder that this space has my name on it and because I’m a minor public figure (not as important as, say, the Trivago guy) what’s written here – by me and you – is reputational. The name of my financial business is here, too. And my corporate partner. I am not anonymous like the Zero dude. It’s not an unfiltered Twitter feed. Content is original and researched (except when I make it up to test you). In short, there are standards. Whether you like them or not.

Blog comments that are profane, hurtfully sexist, racist or ageist, are trashed. Posters who need to be spanked are DELETED. Occasionally (it’s rare – only three in 2018), someone is BANNED. The decision to discipline or erase people is mine alone. Because, as stated above, my name is on the top of this page. Because I have colleagues and others who expect me to create a corner on this madcap Internet thing where their spouses, kids and friends can come and not be grossed out by a bunch of antisocial haters.

Most of the time I kinda enjoy this place. Sometimes not. Last month when I referenced Nine Eleven, for example – a day which made me profoundly sad – the comment section lit up with the juvenile drivel of tinfoilers claiming it was a false flag event. All part of the giant conspiracy that faked a moon landing or the Holocaust. That such inanity is amplified and mainstreamed online is the cancerous underbelly of social media which otherwise empowers mankind. While nobody can shut the spigots of racial hatred, prejudice or ignorance, I can choke them off here. And I will.

One guy was banned that day last month, after being publicly warned not to denigrate the memory of victims. So he took to my email. “If you’re going to ban me from your blog, at least I should know the reason,” he demanded. “I mean, you say you support ‘free-speech’ and all that – but is this only with things YOU agree with? That’s not what ‘free-speech’ is about (and I’m sure you know that)! I don’t think I need to remind you (as Dr. Jordan Pederson so eloquently puts it), it’s the unpopular and opposing views that need to have a voice – even when ‘hurtful’ to some (I paraphrase here).

“So, tell me why you banned me. I’ve made numerous contributions that some have commented positively on, and I may be ‘missed’! I offer a contrarian point of view, which even you may find useful, from time to time.”

Contrarians are welcome here. So are dissenting voices. Read the comments yesterday for evidence of exactly that. My skin is thick and I have my Big Boy pants on whenever I sit before this blog. But I am also going to demand respectful dialogue. This blog will shutter instead of turning into the bilious populist swill that has destroyed the creds of most public sites. The lunatic conspiratorial fringe, so empowered by social media, is unwelcome here. Being a dickhead is not being contrarian. It’s just, well, being a dickhead.

About six million times a year this site is opened. Almost everyone who has something to say gets to say it. But, my blog, my rules. Deal with it.

I am thankful to hear there is a space where dickheads are banned. I am unsure of so many things in our current times but I am grateful I can still have my opinions without fear for my life. Thank you for your blog.

Happy Thanksgiving Garth! Thank you for all you have done over the years trying to educate the masses regarding Financial Literacy. I look forward to your column daily and appreciate all the help.
Bravo for banning the trolls and dickheads!

At last week’s Tory conference, Hammond conceded the time was approaching when the government would need to tax internet companies such as Amazon and Google. “The global internet giants must contribute fairly to funding our public services,” he said.

PayPal’s UK subsidiary has agreed to pay an extra €3.1m (£2.7m) in tax following a review by HMRC.

Research by the BBC’s Wake up to Money found that tax at the e-payments firm rose from €181,000 in 2016 to €4.7m.

In its newly-filed accounts, PayPal says: “HMRC has been reviewing the company’s direct tax position.

“As a consequence, the company has agreed and settled its outstanding liabilities and as a result is not subject to any current enquiries.”

Last week, Chancellor Philip Hammond raised the prospect of a new tax for large technology companies which have frequently been criticised for moving sales through other countries and paying modest amounts of tax in the UK.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is trying to tackle the problem but is struggling to reach a consensus among its 36 members.

Thank goodness. Finally a snap of the spirit dog. Is his harness a bit tight? Maybe only appears that way given the massive fluffiness of his coat.
Could not agree with more with Garth’s comments today. The multiple posters also need to look in the mirror, especially the ones who take up a running dialogue with some other poster. Take your little spats off line if you must go at one another.

Garth you were on fire yesterday. Thx for trying to beat back the quasicommies out here.

…..
So..car insurance 2x in bc vs ont. I concur. I went to the icbc head office once, it must have been break time, I could see 20 ppl and none were working.
….
Lee . There is a pretty good filter for replies from the bloghost . Its in ur browser. Find on page “Garth”.

There are many things to be thankful for. Missing yesterday’s comment section on this pathetic blog, if you were so lucky, is one of them.

yeah the comments yesterday were pretty stupid

but I liked your response to one poster:

the consequences of the BC government’s plan: Economic activity slows, unemployment increases, government spending swells as tax revenues fall and real estate sales stall. Humans do not buy things that are getting cheaper, particularly when jobs are in peril. It’s lose-lose-lose.

The NDP could’ve said that they were going to crack down on money laundering and corruption without passing any new laws. They could’ve said that unaffordable housing was the product of low interest rates and loose credit. For which they were not responsible.

Thank you for running this blog and putting up with all the garbage. It is extremely useful and insightful and helps me make important decisions. About real estate: I am Cdn and live in the US about an hour from Boston. I live a mile from the ocean and an hour from a very productive city and home prices around here are half of Toronto and Van and even cheaper than Mtl. Cdn real estate doesn’t make any sense.

“the comment section lit up with the juvenile drivel of tinfoilers claiming it was a false flag event. All part of the giant conspiracy that faked a moon landing or the Holocaust. That such inanity is amplified and mainstreamed online is the cancerous underbelly of social media which otherwise empowers mankind. While nobody can shut the spigots of racial hatred, prejudice or ignorance, I can choke them off here. And I will.”

In all the online places I’ve seen over the year not one person would wager that two major historical events, roughly 20 and 80 year ago, were false.
What is interesting both events are continually used to traumatize us. Even new school kids get the treatment.
Trauma is a major force toward addiction. Add in the GFC and we see now the profitable opioid and weed business take off.

….
This tongue in cheek post was penned already:

The solution to the Kanadian Lobster problem – being pulled back down by your fellow Red pinchers.

Many drop by here with claims of millions, many times over yet favor jogging pants and driving a 15 year old Toyota Camary in that horrid bronze colour. Steely wheels, natch.

The solution is driving a slightly used desirable Ferrari model (holds its value) and picking up some bespoke clothes (ditto). Pivot out of the bucket.

This is known as showing that you have Eff You money.
What is Eff You Money? A universal statement – any attempt at bringing you down will be met by hitmen, lawsuits, or slightly enraged process servers at least.

I think you’ve done a great job with it Garth. It’s hard to moderate something like this but if you knew the enjoyment we get from the blog you would know it’s worth it!

I have told so many people about this blog it’s not even funny. You’re doing a great service informing people about the state of housing and it always makes me realise when I see CP24 on with realtor clowns that unfortunately Trump has a point: there really is fake news out there.

I experimented with Roast Turkey basted in Vegemite last year to honour my heritage.

I’ve moved onto Peanut Butter.

It’s nuts…

M44BC

“Visualizing the World’s Tech Giants 2018

Technology companies have a unique advantage over other businesses, and it’s called the network effect. Each new user who joins a platform adds value to everyone already on it. Facebook would be boring if you were the only one on it. Google would be useless if websites opted out of its indexing services. Amazon would lose substantial clout if 3rd party sellers refused to participate. The network effect results in a few key companies with outsized control over a market, and indeed when you look at the industries dominated by the top 50 tech giants, the network effect is on full display.

We determined the world’s top 50 tech giants based on market cap using a ranking from Forbes, which we sliced a few different ways. The color of each bubble corresponds to the geographic region the company is from, and the size represents market cap as of October 2018. But here’s where things get interesting. Each group represents the five specific industries within the top 50 companies, like IT Software & Service, Technology Hardware & Equipment, Media, Retailing and Semiconductors. This approach lets you easily and quickly see which companies and regions dominate the global market.

The first and most obvious takeaway from both our visualization and the above list is that the US dominates the global technology sector. The biggest companies come from North America (purple), and most are headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA. Second place clearly goes to China (red), which boasts several companies in the top 50, but none are even half the size of the world’s leaders like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. Meanwhile, there are a few companies from Europe (green), and only 1 from the Africa (orange) and zero from the Middle East (light blue).

There is a similar top-heavy distribution of market cap within industries too, with only a few companies dominating the rest. Let’s start in the top left and move clockwise around the visual. Microsoft ($883B) and Alphabet ($839B) are the only two to crack $500B. Facebook ($460B) deserves special mention as the only true social media behemoth to make the list, but otherwise the size of every other company pales in comparison.

The same is true in technology hardware & equipment. It’s Apple’s universe ($1.1T), and then there’s everyone else. Samsung ($297B), perhaps the only real competitor to Apple’s iPhone, is the obvious standout from South Korea, but Apple is almost 4 times as big. The semiconductor industry is likewise controlled by a few companies like Intel ($222B), tsmc ($219B) and nvidia ($174B).

At first glance, retailing and media appear to be much more evenly distributed than they actually are. Consider how Amazon has so dominated the market that its North American competitors are so small, they don’t even make it onto the list of top 50 companies. Amazon is so big, there is literally no other company in sight.

Will the world of tech companies continue to be dominated by only a few players? Lots of analysts think Alibaba has a lot more room to grow, perhaps as much as 50% more this year, suggesting that once a company captures a big piece of the market, it will only continue to expand. And yet other factors like the spread of 5G wireless connectivity present serious challenges to incumbents. See the investments made by Samsung. In fact, the biggest threat to these companies might not be the changing economy or developments in technology, but rumblings that antitrust legislation is needed to break up “big tech” monopolies.”

The majority of comments here only telegraph the various commenters browser history and don’t add any value. That, plus the low effort trolls make it not worth reading many of the comments. Usually people blaming others for their particular shortcomings.

There is a full-blown, gloves-off ideological war. Some say it is awakening.

Previously respected publications have given up the goal or pretense of objectivity. Institutions are battlefields of partisan power struggle as never before, with failing efforts to keep it hidden.
They all become tools to orchestrate hysterical reactions from the masses, pushing the front line to the streets.

Many former conspiracy theories, like whole scale surveillance of individuals by the state and companies colluding with states turned out to be true, despite denying testimonies under oath by leaders of agencies. Nobody went to jail for what proved to be obvious lies under oath. Despite the confirmed surveillance state, critical evidences in historically, politically critical cases, situations are supposedly not found, can be somehow deleted, as if we were not in the age of never disappearing information.

All of these continues to undermine the credibility of established institutions and establishes credibility for reality of many previously far-fetched theories.

Conspiracy theories used to be anonymous, now wild claims surface with full names, professional reputations attached to them, sometimes built over a long time in government, military, etc.

All you can hope is that all of this stays virtual, where the worst thing that can happen to people is getting into vicious argument, getting banned on some corners of the Internet. Despite the efforts of some billionaires, political forces to spill these tides into economic embargoes, military actions and pushing hysterical people to the streets, even in countries where civility was the political norm.

I am thankful and glad you are here. When you get past your occasional demagoguery and hyperbole, there is usually a smidgen of value and every so often a jackpot of life/financial wisdom. And even when that is missing, there are always the pictures of pooches.

Also, I am so thankful to live in Canada and Oakville especially. It was a glorious fall day here and the ravine trail is starting to look postcard (Instagram) worthy.

Grateful to live in a country where we have food security, a very stable democracy and where you can run a business or ply a trade free from corruption/kickbacks or too much government over sight. I have faith in my fellow Canucks, old and new, moisters and vintage. Happy Thanksgiving All!

Cannot wait for 2019 – hope and pray for a 30 to 40% drop in B.C. housing (I own in Victoria)in next couple years – enough is enough, people here disgust me with their smug full of BS attitudes – time to make things more affordable for all not just a few

I wish the owner of this blog followed his own advice. Respectful dialogue would be much appreciated but by referring to elected officials with disparaging monikers Mr. Turner proves that he has one standard for himself and one for commentators.

I sympathize with those who want to purchase a home in any of the overpriced cities. With that said, the home seekers are mostly revealing something inward. The NDP policies are populist and will have only a minor effect on the overall price. But the unhappy home seekers want these policies in place because it will cause some pain…any pain to the homeowners…and darn it, don’t they deserve some pain?
To experience pleasure at someone else’s misfortune is a sign of personal discontent. At the end of the day, the policies will be mildly effective, but not enough to make a significant change in the home you can afford. People, enjoy the life to the best you can afford. Not more, not less. Don’t be envious because others were fortunate.
Lastly Garth, thanks for the blog.

About the picture of the day: many may laugh, but poodles are highly intelligent & were bred to retrieve waterfowl (hence, Puddlehunds – I may have misspelled this). Standard poodles can be trained to be very effective guard dogs. For one thing, the iconic poodle ‘do’ tends to make people underestimate them. Don’t be fooled by the do, folks. They still have an excellent set of teeth, know how to use them & the standard version is large enough to have quite an impact.

“This blog will shutter instead of turning into the bilious populist swill that has destroyed the creds of most public sites. The lunatic conspiratorial fringe, so empowered by social media, is unwelcome here. Being a dickhead is not being contrarian. It’s just, well, being a dickhead.”

And this is why I keep coming back. Filtering out the less well-written contrarians from the dickheads is hard, punishing work, but it is very much appreciated. Thank you, Garth.

If the RE and stock and bond and auto markets crash will ur blog that day be called “told u so ur pooched”? Or “pooched r us” or “POOCHED!” I mean after a decade + old build up there should be a grand finale.

Garth, this blog has brought me a lot of financial education that my schooling did not. I really appreciate your insights, and I often did wonder how you chose which comments to leave and which to delete. I always thought it would be a challenge as humans we would naturally want to delete comments that oppose us.
However it’s the variety, although sometimes easily aniticipated depending on the poster, points of view that really liven things up.
Thank you and happy thanksgiving.

#40 Angry musty conservative on 10.08.18 at 7:25 pm
“Just because people have differing opinions doesn’t make them racist you idiot.”

This is meant to be funny, perhaps. But let’s get sensible; people are racist. It appears to come with the biology. It’s just that real humans work out what terrible things this habit has wrought and try to overcome it.

#162 crowdedelevatorfartz on 10.08.18 at 11:38 am
Totally off subject.

The NDP created “govt car insurance”( ICBC) in BC in the 1970’s and while it became a huge cash cow for successive govts of all political stripes( NDP, Socred, Liberal)…..now it is hitting the proverbial “wall” financially.

The average cost of car insurance here is $2000 per year. ( price assumes an excellent safe driving record ie no accidents for at least 5 – 10 years. Assumes you are not driving a “luxury” car ie one worth 100k or more. Assumes minimal liability coverage and fire , theft, collision).
Side note. A friend’s 17 year old son purchased a 10 year old “beater” for $2500 and is paying….$4500/year as a “New Driver”….thus the days of young kids learning to drive are pretty much done in BC.
ICBC rates are expected to increase substantially in the next few years since the NDP have regained power and the Minister in charge has declared ICBC’s finances (after reviewing the books natch) “a dumpster fire”….
We lotus eaters are nervously awaiting annual 10% (or more) car insurance rate increases over the next few years.
Just curious as to what other blog dogs are paying for car insurance Canada wide as opposed to socialist BC.
Assume 5 -10 year accident free “safe driver” discount.
Assume 5 year old vehicle now worth aprox 25k.
Assume basic insurance (PLPD) and fire,theft,collision.
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Always beats me that driving a F-150 is a God given right.
And that 16 year olds should have a Mustang.
If you find the cost of owning a vehicle is too high,
Take the bus or walk.
Stop whining.

#8 Adam on 10.08.18 at 5:51 pm
Curious, is referring to the premier of BC as “comrade” (as only one example) really, what you referred to as “respectful dialogue”?
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Amen.
Garth, I think you can do better than comparing Horgan to Comrade Stalin.

“The issue du jour was the BC government’s ridiculous plan to make housing cheaper by taxing it more.” – Garth

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Ridiculous? OK, opinion, but really, it isn’t any more ridiculous than many other tax schemes implemented by various governments, at various level, in this country. And, after all, they were elected on the platform of fixing the housing problem.

Saw the topic of the blog and first time ever I didn’t read the comments section. People are passionate for a reason but yes we all should be adults when it comes to our comments. Stress sucks and financial stress really sucks…too many people walking an electrified tight rope.

Thanks for all your sage advice, Garth. I was so
disillusioned with many of yesterday’s comments. I can’t tell if people were trolling or not but the mean spiritedness directed at folks who work hard and can enjoy the nicer things in life was appalling. I imagine that most of the silent majority can see the damages that a socialist government can bring upon all, rich and poor. Kudos to you for taking some of these idealogues to task. Keep up great work! From one of the silent majority that doesn’t speak up often enough.

Thank you Garth. I think the silent majority just doesn’t feel the need to post. I very much respect that you don’t shutter freedom of speech because a minority of extreme views get posted. I with the MSM would do the same.

1. B.C. auto insurance costs me roughly 100 bucks per month per vehicle. I have one year-round and 5 temps for about 36 months per year of coverage, about 12 of those months is very basic coverge… not comprehensive for the old F-150 and small bike, a Kawie.

2. There is a Bank of Hawai’i counter at the local KTA mart. I asked the [email protected] if I can open a checking account. Canadian with passport and she said they do it all the time as long as I have a TIN. Okay, but it is 9 digit and we call it a SIN.
“No problem.”

We’ll see tomorrow.

B.C. Government takes a large dividend from it’s money-losing corporation.

Hi Garth,
I agree with most of what you’ve posted today, and as much as I support our freedoms regarding speech, you have every right to govern this sight. You let people voice their opinion fairly liberally, so when you ban an individual, I suspect it is for good reason. For that we’re grateful.

I do want to clarify my post (176) from yesterday, in particular my comment regarding Eby and his likelihood of seizing properties. You responded with:

“You support a government seizing private property? There’s a name for that. – Garth”

The answer is yes. Seizing any property obtained through criminal activity is something I firmly support. It’s only these properties I was referring to. This is going to happen.

This should help guys put their fears into perspective. Did you know that men have a greater chance of being raped by another man than falsely accused of sexual assault by a woman? Think about that next time you get into the elevator with a dude!

I was also disgusted at the comments about 9/11. I had a friend I went to college with who never made it out of the North Tower, and another who I knew as the son of a prof at NYU (from my time in NYC from 1991-1993) who was also trapped in the North Tower. That was one very horrific day; no matter what people may speculate about the reasons why 9/11 happened, it was such a dark time for the families of those poor souls just trying to make a living who were aught in the wrong place at the wrong time. They certainly deserve our respect.

I am sorry that I have hardened views on the housing affordability situation in BC. Just because a few taxes are being put in to curb speculation and make it undesirable for those YVR monopoly players living overseas, does not mean that our Comrade Horgan will turn BC into Venezuela or Cuba (as some on this blog have claimed). If this is your belief, I recommend that your medication be doubled.

Garth, there are few blogs today that have a comment section. It’s a waste of time to maintain. And the people that do comment, are too lazy to create something of their own and the first to want people to hear them speak. My advice is to not waste another second on this earth moderating comments. Disable the comment section. We come here to hear you, with a small minority coming to add a comment.

Chinese investments in the US plummeted 92 per cent in the first nine months of 2018 from its peak two years ago, as the escalating trade war and Washington’s intensifying scrutiny of tech investments significantly dampened deal making activity, according to data from Mergermarket on Wednesday.

While Chinese interest in the US continued to fall, Canada has become a key target for energy assets, data from Mergermarket showed.

During the first nine months, there were eight Chinese acquisitions in Canada’s energy sector worth US$2.2 billion, a six fold increase from the US$390 million in the first three quarters of 2017.

Pipeline or no pipeline, Canadian oil sand companies are exceptionally undervalued today.

#31 Penny Henny on 10.08.18 at 6:51 pm
Peoples, are you with me peoples?

Let’s ‘Ban The Stan”!

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That will do me a service. My research on mentality of crowds is almost completed anyway.

But it/my banning/ won’t make your stomach or that of all other real estate agents full again. The good old times are over.

I am like the mirror, you can choose not to look at it, but that won’t make you prettier.

I just state the facts, no conspiracy theorist whatsoever. Not political correct, sure. But nobody forces you to read my posts or react to them.
Your reactions shows that you have vested interest in promoting rosy days/sunny ways, I have no problem with that, but it surely implies association with the real estate industry, so to be clear: you are not an objective observer but rather a promoter.

Well, you get deleted even when you simply state that not all deletions are due to inappropriate comments but rather at times for asking for more proof and for posing a challenge. How does that fit in what this particular entry says? At least the author could respond to that, and for once not with top-down sarcasm (irony is OK if he knows what that takes).

So the other day we saw that the wealthy are against a wealth tax and the non-wealthy are in favor. No surprise.

In a pure democracy should the non-wealthy have the right to vote to tax away as much from the wealthy as they feel like?

Or should constitutional property rights exist to prevent it?

I think the majority probably can legally tax the wealthy at will except we need a sober body (not the mob) to make the decision on an educated basis considering that the wealth can disappear if taxed too heavily.

Yes Garth your skin is pretty thick. You get my full respect for allowing most comments to pass through. Despite experiencing a mother load of cognitive dissonance.

Because once you let in a bit of doubt that the biggest terrorist attack on American soil was orchestrated by a dude in a cave 10k away (who use to be a CiA asset) or that the financial system melt down of 2008 wasn’t such unforseen surprise. Questioning the official story might make a poor boomer lose his mind.

That’s how our minds work. We got fat neurons of beliefs linking a lot of self identity… A little bit of doubt and those neurons are discarded and we can go Koko.

I am (thankfully) not as old as Garth, but (thankfully) was around when all this online nonsense started.

They should have eliminated Anonymity on the interwebs to start with. Curious if that would have made the world a better place.
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Facebook is a pretty compelling example that anonymity is not what makes people act like asses online.

When you step back and ask yourself why do you comment about anything in blog world, the answer is simple. You think someone else actually cares about what you have to say and mostly… you want to see your own worthless words stamped in time somewhere. Like quitting cigs 30 years ago I think this silly idea of posting meaningless brammble should cease… awe that feels refreshing…

“There are many things to be thankful for. Missing yesterday’s comment section on this pathetic blog, if you were so lucky, is one of them.” ~ Garth
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Ha ha. It just so happens that I did miss yesterday’s post and comments section.

My daughter got married Sunday. I got home at 3 am, and pretty much slept away Thanksgiving.

So, to add to the previously posted list of things I am thankful for, missing the comments the other day is one of them.

It is interesting, however, to see just how many angry, hateful, humourless, jealous, spiteful, vitriolic, uneducated, ignorant, vain, naive, bigoted, vile, misguided, ill-informed, and generally mean people are lurking around out there!

OR
We, as a Province, could go back to private sector insurance.
ICBC was started in the 70’s to deal with exorbitant, sky rocketing car insurance rates and it worked…for a while.
And after years of lawyers fighting the “good fight” for their clients bodily claim injures we have…the most expensive car insurance in Canada…..subsidized by the taxpayers of BC. Possibly due to the amount of crappy drivers in expensive cars? Who knows…….

Time for a rethink.

Either remove “at fault” injury claims and have a set rate for injuries( egad! Lawyers would suffer horribly!) and end the cash grab thus keeping affordable govt insurance in one form or another.

OR do like other Provinces and let the private sector run it. ( What would all those unemployed govt workers do with their spare time? Work? The horror!)
I particularly like the fact that ICBC ( the INSURANCE corp of BC) has (over the past 5 years)wheezled its way into running the Motor Vehicle Branch, Inspection branch, Licensing Branch, Fines collections, etc etc etc….thus making it so expensive to “break it apart” and send the insurance part of it back to the private sector. Empire building on steriods.

“Take a bus or walk”.
“Stop whining”

Wow!
Such deep introspection.
And here I was merely curious as to what the rest of Canada pays for car insurance.

Work for ICBC do we?
Worried about that govt pension?

“Walk or take the bus…….”

Somewhat difficult for the average tradesman that works all over the lower mainland on a daily basis. Or for a delivery driver, taxis( taxi’s average $1500 PER MONTH in car insurance …dont believe me?….just ask one)
Transit.
Unfortunately that is what more and more people are forced to do on the grotesquely over subsidized, 30 year old rapid transit system that breaks down regularly.
But they manage to replace the president every few years with a huge severance package.
So I will take your “advise” as Simplistic snarking from a simpleton…….

nah.
I would say the rapidly rising rates and endless deficits for ICBC will force its eventual privatization.
The NDP wont do it since it would be an admittance that one of their policies was an abject failure.

Time to stop subsidizing all the crappy drivers in 100k + luxury vehicles and let the real world run car insurance again?

The amount of sucking up to Garth makes me gag but I’m sure the old coot loves every second of it. So yeah, thanks for the blog, blah blah.

Anyways, I know you keep saying profits drive markets, but has not “potential” driven markets more so? You can see that with the cannabis sector. Cyclically speaking, isn’t this the time the stock market should be heading downwards? Which means BUY!

Yo Ponzi Pilot
As IU commuted to work this am I spotted 3 (yes three) Alberta license plates on work pick up trucks and a van with Ontario plates……..seems the tradesmen have found a way to “avoid” ICBC extortion…

Yep, Alberta plates on lots of construction sites all over the lower brainland.
Don’t believe me?
Go to any large construction site anywhere in BC and walk around the parked cars in the surrounding blocks.
Garanteed to see at least 3 or 4 Alberta Plates.
I see it on a DAILY basis.

Apparently I’m not the only one to think ICBC rates are a punitive , lazy, govt cash grab…….

Dearest Gartho.
When it comes to building 7, I proudly wear my tin foil fedora.
I got weird occupation for my casino money. I fix shit code. Reverse engineer code created by the schooled. I make it great again.
To be successful in my trade. Every layer of the onion needs to be ripped off and investigated.
That mind set can not be turned off at 5pm.
I get why you can’t say what you really think about building 7. You’re public respectable figure. The back lash would destroy you, dorathy and the dog
Un like me who is drunken dancing star at loser lounges in the south west, I got nothing to lose being a truth deciple.
Aliens, UFOs exist. And you saw one a few Febs ago. But don’t tell anyone.
Dr Smoking Man
PhD Herdinomics
…………………………………………………………………
Just got back from the land of bad cell service after a family gathering at the cottage and read the rules book.

Most of the time I kinda enjoy this place. Sometimes not. Last month when I referenced Nine Eleven, for example – a day which made me profoundly sad – the comment section lit up with the juvenile drivel of tinfoilers claiming it was a false flag event. All part of the giant conspiracy that faked a moon landing or the Holocaust. That such inanity is amplified and mainstreamed online is the cancerous underbelly of social media which otherwise empowers mankind. While nobody can shut the spigots of racial hatred, prejudice or ignorance, I can choke them off here. And I will.

You are correct Garth. Your sandbox your rules.
Did you miss this one from the tinfoil hat master of conspiracy theories? Building 7 ?????

BTW I though you were married to Dorothy? According to Dr Wingnut your married to dorathy?

I am sure there are all sorts of crazy comments here much like any other space where comments are allowed. I often find the comments almost as interesting as the article or blog itself. I just hope Garth doesn’t start blocking any comments he doesn’t agree with..I have seen many other forums where the censorship is just insane so it ends up being a big happyfest where only people who fully support the bloggers thoughts are allowed in comments. Or worse yet anyone who disagrees is just outright banned..dont think Garth would ban anyone unless they really said something very insulting or vulgar.

#94 Blackdog on 10.09.18 at 12:42 am
This should help guys put their fears into perspective. Did you know that men have a greater chance of being raped by another man than falsely accused of sexual assault by a woman? Think about that next time you get into the elevator with a dude!
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If a dude tried to rape me, he’d be gargling his teeth in seconds, I’d walk away a free Man after the investigation was over, no one outside my community would ever hear about it, I’d go back to my regular job the next day, all the locals would rush to me in an empathic embrace trying to help, and make me feel better.

If I was falsely accused of SA by a female – I would suffer immediate, real, irrevocable consequences on a national, or even international scale – no matter what happened afterwards. Absolutely DOES NOT MATTER if I am guilty or not. No more job, or career, everyone looking at me differently, no way to defend against, exiled from my home for life, maybe even my own family questioning.

I’d gladly take a real guy actually really trying to rip my pants off over a female finger pointing at me ANY DAY. One false accusation by a female, and it’s still all over – even if no formal complaint was ever made, no charges ever laid, no court hearing, no trial, no conviction. Just like that.

For now, Men would be best advised to wait for the next elevator. Women lie just as easy as Men do, they’re just as ambitious and Men are, and have no less problem destroying someone’s life to get what they want then Men do. They have full MSM, Social Media, and State support. Men who are innocent have no chance at surviving intact.

I’ve got no problem if someone doesn’t like Jordan Peterson. What is pathetic is not having the backbone to state in clear terms, ones that can be critiqued, why you believe he is a dickhead. That way, people can make an educated decision whether it’s you or him that is the real dickhead.

Continuing to watch the bond markets with more interest than I’ve paid to anything for quite a while now. These latest developments will over shadow any wimpy government policy designed to transfer wealth from rich to poor.

What happens when you stoke inflation, cut taxes and attack the world with beggar your neighbour trade policies, and you also happen to be the world’s military power broker, and heavily in debt to the world’s richest country (ie, China)?

Well, you start a fire. A really big fire.

US Government bond yields spiked to almost 3.3% last week. By the new year they will have beat that handily. And that is not a lot. In 1980 they were 18% or more.

What is happening is this massive monetary contraction, which is going to cause inflation and high interest rates like no one under age 40 has ever seen.

The difference is in 1980 Western governments were not sitting on top of piles and piles of debt, with more being backstopped by their insurance companies.

This time, they are.

I keep saying Trumpster is in over his head. Now it appears to me that he is not just a bumbling idiot, but he is also a very dangerous man. He is going to start a war with what he is doing, and he does not even know that. He seems to think he is protecting factory assembly jobs and sugar cane pickers. The man is nuts and incredibly dangerous.

As I was saying elsewhere on the web the other day, it’s because of qualities like this amongst Canadian conservatives, that I’m confident that Canadian conservatives are on the right side of the line.

PS- In the lost blog entry you mentioned someone in the family getting 2 speeding tickets in a Mazda 3. I was unaware those things can go that fast! :-)
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It’s actually pretty peppy for a tin can econobox. The tickets were earned in our previous car, a Honda Civic (even more barely able to go that fast) courtesy of Ms. IH :).

The 3 was bought primarily for the kids to learn in for their drivers license as Ms. IH and I like standard shift, and the 3 is auto. I don’t really like the car (cheap feeling), it’ll probably be sold for something else in 3-4 years or so.

“That will do me a service. My research on mentality of crowds is almost completed anyway.”

Yes ladies and gents, Stanley is almost done here. His internet time has been reduced and his straight jacket time lengthened. He has two more electric shock therapies scheduled and then we will evaluate how poor Stanley is doing…

#110 Stan Brooks on 10.09.18 at 5:52 am
#31 Penny Henny on 10.08.18 at 6:51 pm
Peoples, are you with me peoples?
I just state the facts, no conspiracy theorist whatsoever. Not political correct, sure. But nobody forces you to read my posts or react to them.
Your reactions shows that you have vested interest in promoting rosy days/sunny ways, I have no problem with that, but it surely implies association with the real estate industry, so to be clear: you are not an objective observer but rather a promoter.

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“the government is lying to us, inflation is and has been 10% or higher for years and will be for years to come”
…..sure, just facts, no conspiracy theory tinfoil hat there at all…../eyeroll

Lemme guess, since I’m disagreeing with you again you’re going to accuse me of being a realtor again too?
Like that has some significance or somehow lends legitimacy to your lunatic ravings?

BTW not only am I not in RE, but I long ago took Garths “rule of 90” made it a “rule of ZERO” and preach it to anyone who will listen. Renter for life.

The allegedly defective works were signed off by staff at Hackney Homes, the arms-length management organisation set up by the council in 2006 in order to receive its allocation from the Government’s £1.6 billion Decent Homes programme, which aimed to help councils raise the standards of housing stock.

Sources said the allegations date back to the inception of the scheme’s 2011 funding strategy. A spokeswoman for Hackney council said: “We are pleased that after a long period of investigation, this matter is finally being progressed.”

Recently, I pulled into a parking lot in downtown Toronto. Not long ago, it cost ten dollars, flat rate, on Saturday nights. Now it’s fifteen. Speaking of cars, the insurance company jacked up my premium 32 per cent over two years. And our annual health insurance premium went up six per cent. Meanwhile, the company that supplies gas to our home applied to raise rates by forty per cent.

Soaring costs for meat forced Scanlon to increase the price of his wares at Hot Diggitty Dog by 25 per cent last month, one of the biggest price hikes since he set up his cart near Parliament Hill in 1983.

If I was falsely accused of SA by a female – I would suffer immediate, real, irrevocable consequences on a national, or even international scale – no matter what happened afterwards. Absolutely DOES NOT MATTER if I am guilty or not. No more job, or career, everyone looking at me differently, no way to defend against, exiled from my home for life, maybe even my own family questioning.
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There are tons of options for someone falsely accused. Sue of libel or slander. Add in a pinch of intentional infliction of emotional distress. If that doesn’t work, negligent infliction of emotion distress.

In all scenarios, it won’t be hard to show the outcome of the accusations. Since your reputation is in the toilet regardless of actual guilt, you may as well make some money from it.

I’ve been following for years, and never read your comments, but I have to comment that your comments are the most unique and weird. People say things on your blog, that are just out of the blue, and sometimes don’t even relate to the topic…it’s hilarious.

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The views expressed are those of the author, Garth Turner, a Raymond James Financial Advisor, and not necessarily those of Raymond James Ltd. It is provided as a general source of information only and should not be considered to be personal investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell securities. Investors considering any investment should consult with their Investment Advisor to ensure that it is suitable for the investor's circumstances and risk tolerance before making any investment decision. The information contained in this blog was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however, we cannot represent that it is accurate or complete. Raymond James Ltd. is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.